Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,9
as she cried. That girl was devastated by whatever shit you and the cold bitch perpetrated in that room and I’m not about to help you find her.”
I can see the resolve on his face, and as much as I’d like to beat the information out of him, I know better than to try. It’s hard, but I back off, glaring at him the entire time, then turn my back and walk away, barely managing to keep my rage in check. Beating my fist into his face would be counterproductive, and punching the wall will only hurt my hand.
Instead of heading for my office, I go straight to the front desk and pull her phone number off the forms she had to fill out before dropping her car off with us. See, I didn’t need Nick after all. Her address would’ve been better, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Putting the phone to my ear, I listen to it ring before her voice hits my ears. I clench it tighter in my hand and struggle for what to say. She says hello a second time, but all I can do is say her name.
She gasps in my ear. “You have some nerve calling me, Mitchell.”
“Please, Hailey, you have to let me explain what that was.”
The line is silent for so long I pull the phone away to make sure it’s still connected, then she says, “I don’t have to let you do anything. I have zero interest in being the third person in your relationship. My ex already did that to me once. I refuse to live through it again in the other position.”
My free hand fists at my side. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You’re right,” her voice says quietly, sadness clear even through the phone line. “Goodbye, Mitchell. Don’t call me again. This number and any others you call from will immediately be blocked.”
With those words, the connection between us ends and even though she said she was blocking me, I still try to call her, staring down at the screen in disbelief when I get the “your call can’t be completed” message.
Rage fills me once more and I throw the stupid thing at the wall, watching it shatter and fall to the floor.
Chapter 8
One year later
Hailey
It’s almost time for the parents to start coming in so I can meet them and the children who will be my charges for the school year starting in a little over a week. I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down so I don’t look like a crazy woman when they walk through the doors.
While I wait, I look around the room at all the posters I spent hours picking out and hanging up, as well as the neat rows of desks and brightly colored paper stacked on top of them, makes me giddy. Being a teacher is all I wanted to do from the time I was a little girl, and the fact that I’m finally living my dream has my chest feeling like it’s about to burst with happiness.
Sure enough, the first set of parents walks through the open door and it’s hard to stay standing beside my desk. The principal, Mrs. Sanders, warned me and the two other teachers who are new to the school this year not to seem too eager. She said if we were, the parents would think they could walk all over us. I don’t want to give that impression.
The little girl makes a beeline for the reading corner I’ve set up in one corner of the room. Grabbing a book out of one of the bins, she immediately plops down to make herself comfortable in one of the three bean bag chairs and starts flipping through the pages. I already know we’re going to get along well because if given the choice, I’m going to be reading instead of talking to grown-ups too.
Turning my attention back to her parents, I decide, screw the principal’s advice. I don’t want to come off like I’m one of the stuck-up teachers I loathed when I was in school. I want to build happy, trusting relationships with the parents of my students.
Decision made, I walk over to meet them, holding out a hand for them to shake. “Hi! I’m Hailey Lucas and I’ll be your daughter’s teacher this year.”
The excitement in my voice is clear, making both parents relax as they return my smile and take my proffered hand, first the father, then the mother, before introducing